The 2023 Bracknell Forest Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023, to elect all 41 members in 15 wards for Bracknell Forest Borough Council in England. The election took place on the same day as other local elections in England as part of the 2023 United Kingdom local elections. Due to a boundary review there had been a change in ward boundaries, along with a reduction in size from 42 members elected in 2019. This is the first election since 1971 (under the council's predecessor Easthampstead Rural District) where a majority of seats are outside Bracknell. The election was held alongside concurrent town and parish council elections in Binfield, Bracknell, Crowthorne, Sandhurst, Warfield, and Winkfield.
The Labour Party won an overall majority of 3, ending the 26-year Conservative Party administration, with both the Leader of the Council Paul Bettison and Deputy Leader Dale Birch losing re-election in the new ward of Sandhurst. By seat share, it is the worst result for the Conservatives in the history of Bracknell District and Bracknell Forest, eclipsing their defeat in 1973. Additionally, by measure of seats lost, it was the worst Conservative result in the country that electoral cycle. Conversely, it is the best performance for the Liberal Democrats and its antecedents, winning 7 seats. The Green Party gained victory for the first time in the council's history, winning 2 seats.
Background
The council had been controlled by the Conservative Party since the unitary authority was created in 1998. The predecessor district council was controlled by the Conservatives, save for an initial period from 1973 to 1976 and later 1995 to 1997 when it was controlled by the Labour Party.
Paul Bettison was the Leader of the Council since 1997, having been elected leader of the Conservative group in 1996. Mary Temperton has been leader of the Labour group since 2011. Thomas Parker, the lone Liberal Democrat, announced he would not stand for re-election, having been first elected in 2019.
Pre-Election Composition +PartySeatsConservatives37Labour4Liberal Democrats1
Campaign The Conservatives nominated a full slate of 41 candidates, whilst Labour only put forward 24, the Liberal Democrats 12, and the Greens 7. However, in none of these contests were Labour and the Liberal Democrats standing against each other, and likewise between the Liberal Democrats and the Greens - in only 2 of the 15 wards were Labour and the Greens opposing each other. This was a significant reversal from 2019, when Labour put up a full slate, and led to accusations that an arrangement had been reached between the three parties as a form of progressive alliance - a fact denied by the local Labour and Liberal Democrats. Reform UK and the Heritage Party also stood 1 candidate each in Harmans Water & Crown Wood - their first entry at a Bracknell Forest election. Finally, two independents stood - one in Town Centre & The Parks and another in Whitegrove.
Soon after nominations closed, controversy emerged over the selection of one of the Conservative candidates for Bracknell Town Council on Priestwood ward, Andrew McBride. McBride was a former regional organiser of the far-right British National Party, having also stood as a BNP candidate for Priestwood & Garth at the 2007 election, as well as a former deputy leader of the far-right Britain First. The Bracknell Conservative Association subsequently suspended his membership and disavowed his candidacy - however, it was legally too late to withdraw McBride from the election, so he appeared on the ballot as a Conservative candidate. The association indicated it would deny him the Conservative whip should he be elected. Outgoing Conservative cabinet member, Marc Brunel-Walker, announced on 12 April that he had submitted a motion of no-confidence in the association's officers over its selection of McBride in the first place.
11 incumbent councillors (10 of them Conservative) announced they would be standing down.
Results
Ward results Binfield North & Warfield West
Binfield South & Jennett’s Park
Bullbrook
Crowthorne
Easthampstead & Wildridings
Great Hollands
Hanworth
Harmans Water & Crown Wood
Owlsmoor & College Town
Priestwood & Garth
Sandhurst
Swinley Forest
Town Centre & The Parks
Whitegrove
Winkfield & Warfield East
Aftermath The Labour takeover was considered one of the shocks of the 2023 United Kingdom local elections, with many pundits ascribing the defeat in part to the theorised deal between Labour and the Liberal Democrats - outgoing leader Paul Bettison himself identified this and the woes of the Conservative government nationally as the reasons for his party's defeat. Mary Temperton, the Labour Party group leader, continued to deny such a pact existed, but nevertheless the result fuelled calls for a progressive alliance. Over a year later at the 2024 general election, both of Bracknell Forest's parliamentary constituencies would flip from the Conservatives - Bracknell to Labour and Maidenhead to the Liberal Democrats.
Councillors standing down CouncillorWardFirst electedPartyDate announcedThomas ParkerWildridings & Central2019Liberal Democrats3 October 2022Marc Brunel-WalkerCrown Wood2003Conservative Party21 December 2022Robert AngellBullbrook1983Conservative Party4 May 2023Nigel AtkinsonAscot2019Conservative Party4 May 2023Michael BrossardCentral Sandhurst2007Conservative Party4 May 2023Sandra InghamWarfield Harvest Ride2015Conservative Party4 May 2023Gaby KennedyCentral Sandhurst2016Conservative Party4 May 2023Ian KirkeBullbrook2019Conservative Party4 May 2023Isabel MattickHarmans Water1987Conservative Party4 May 2023Pauline McKenzieCollege Town2015Conservative Party4 May 2023John PorterOwlsmoor2011Conservative Party4 May 2023
Changes 2023–2027 October 2025: Caroline Egglestone (Bullbrook) and Cherise Welch (Harmans Water & Crown Wood) left the Labour Party to sit as independents, putting the council into no overall control with Labour continuing as a minority administration. March 2026: Council leader Mary Temperton (Great Hollands) stepped down and Cabinet member Roy Bailey (Town Centre & The Parks) resigned his cabinet post after both were suspended by the Labour Party pending a disciplinary investigation connected to a fundraiser for former mayor Naheed Ejaz; deputy leader Helen Purnell served as acting leader in the interim. July 2026: Temperton and Bailey were both cleared and readmitted to the Labour Party.
By-elections Great Hollands
The by-election followed the resignation of Labour councillor Naheed Ejaz in September 2024, after her arrest in connection with a case for which she and her son were later convicted.
References